


a beginner's guide to high school chemistry

by kurooing



Category: Boyfriend (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:38:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3426473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurooing/pseuds/kurooing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeongmin is easy to talk to as long as Hyunseong isn't actually talking to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a beginner's guide to high school chemistry

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a short little thing i wrote one day after seeing one of those au masterposts floating around the internet land. it is silly, and hopefully a little cute.

what if someone else sits here  
and gets this book? i just thought  
of that. that’d be bad, right?  
i’m pretty sure it would be bad.  
oh, and the teacher is going to  
have someone work out problem  
17 on the board -  
the solution is over there →

who would dare break the  
sacred unspoken seat rule??  
they’d be shunned. forever.  
so don’t worry!!  
AHHH i totally got called on for that   
too you saved me, again :)

...i guess that makes sense. but  
what about if the books somehow  
get switched without us knowing?  
we could get in big trouble for this  
probably, jeongmin! we’re writing  
in school property!!

wha, why are you just worrying  
about this now?? it’s been  
months! you know, you didn’t   
have to write back in the first place.  
i was just bored in class  
when i wrote that, i didn’t  
think anyone would reply to me!!!

...it seemed like the polite thing  
to do

incredible. so being polite won  
out over vandalism?  
you’re something else, geez.

should i not have? i can stop  
answering you...

sure you can. anytime you want.  
the power is in your hands.  
pencil? the pencil is in your hand  
and the power is in the pencil.  
there we go. nailed it.  
anyway the point is - haha, point.  
pencil. get it? - obviously you can  
stop whenever you want there’s  
no one FORCING you to commit  
the tepid crime of writing in  
your chemistry book to talk to  
someone you’ve never even met.

  
see? look, you did it! wow,  
i’m kind of proud.  
i didn’t think you’d be able to resist.

  
two classes in a row even.  
consider me suitably impressed!!

  
hyunseong?

  
ok, seriously this is getting  
ridiculous. I GET IT!!!!!!  
can you at least say something  
so i know you’re alive???

i’m alive.

are you like, for real mad at me or  
something? how is that even possible??  
i’m sorry?

eheehee  
i’m not mad! i just wanted to see  
what you’d do if i stopped writing  
back ^-^

i want to be annoyed, but i’m kind of  
just amazed you lasted so long.  
good job, you actually had me worried  
for a while there. jerk!!  
also, i’m now almost a week behind  
in knowing what the hell is going on  
in class. help?  
that can be how you make it up  
to be for being a meaniehead.

i didn’t actually mean for you to  
be worried… i’m sorry =[  
but i’m not sure how i’m  
supposed to help you learn  
that much in textbook margins?  
you’ve... tried… reading the book,  
right?

yeah, sure i read the book all the  
time. i’m reading it right now.  
multitasking king, that’s me!  
...okay no, i haven’t.  
even i can’t lie that badly.  
there’s only one thing to do.  
we have to talk to each other.  
in the faces.

 

Hyunseong is nervous. For at least two reasons he can name, and several others he can’t. He’s not sure why he just assumed this would never happen, but he had, and now it’s happening, and he has no clue what he’s doing.

Chemistry is his worst subject. Not by much - honestly he’s not particularly great at any of them - but still. The only reason Hyunseong has been able to help Jeongmin all year is that he sees the answers written on the board and copies them down. Sometimes this is after he gets called on and fails to figure it out himself. But of course, Jeongmin doesn’t know that. Apparently he’s about to find out. Hyunseong’s stomach twists at the thought. Considering he has nothing to prove this, Hyunseong firmly believes that Jeongmin is cool. Way too cool to hang out with him, probably. He just seems cool, with his nonchalant attitude towards everything. And now, after months of only communicating via shared textbook, Hyunseong is going to meet Jeongmin, who will then realize how very uncool and unhelpful Hyunseong is.

Maybe he does know what one of those other reasons for nervousness is, but thinking about it isn’t going to help at all.

 

When Jeongmin arrives, he’s smaller than Hyunseong expected, but his smile is so radiant it seem like he fills up the entire room. And then he’s there, in front of Hyunseong, with his smile and his face and it’s a little overwhelming because Jeongmin is very close to him and this is new and weird and good god he’s pretty. Being the person that he is - embarrassing, mostly - the situation is immediately too much and Hyunseong lets out this weird, high-pitched squeak when Jeongmin holds his hand out.

There’s a painfully long second where Jeongmin just looks at him, before his eyes crinkle up and his mouth opens and he just laughs. Loudly, and for longer than Hyunseong thinks is completely necessary, but it’s so infectious that he finds himself laughing too.

Several minutes later, when the two have calmed down to a reasonable level, Jeongmin puts his hand on Hyunseong’s shoulder and says, between small bursts of laughter, “What… was that… noise… ohmygod.” Hyunseong leans away slightly, and rubs at the back of his neck. “I, uh…” he trails off, catching a quick glance at Jeongmin’s face. Jeongmin, who is still smiling at him, and not even in a mocking way. Before Hyunseong can pick up his explanation, Jeongmin starts to speak again.

“Well anyway, hi. It’s great to finally meet you! I was sort of worried you wouldn’t show up, but here you are!” he gestures broadly to the area Hyunseong is occupying before continuing, “So, okay, I realize that I’m basically hopeless and that there’s no way we’re going to be able to go through everything. But! Might as well get to it, right? I solemnly swear that I will try my hardest to actually pay attention and learn some of this god forsaken science nonsense.” All Hyunseong could do was nod. He hadn’t really considered that the long messages Jeongmin wrote in their book was any indication of his capacity to talk, but that seems to be the case. The two of them sit beside each other and Hyunseong pulls out his meager notes and makes a small prayer that he’ll somehow be a chemistry genius right now. Because if he’s not, then Jeongmin might leave. And he just got here. But it feels like hours have passed already and he wants that to last as long as possible before Jeongmin gives up and leaves.

Jeongmin doesn’t leave.

 

After forty minutes of repeated failure, made worse by Jeongmin’s inability to focus for more than 30 seconds at a time, absolutely no progress had been made whatsoever. Hyunseong looks at Jeongmin, who is staring intently at a problem, and sighs. “I’m sorry, I’m actually really terrible with chemistry.” Jeongmin doesn’t even look up. “I know.”

“W-what?”

This time he does look up, and he’s smiling again. Honestly, he should really try to dial that down a little. “I knew you weren’t good at it. I’ve known for … about a month? Since I sneaked a peek at the class grades trying to see mine. But it was your class. So, like I said, I know.” Hyunseong’s mouth opens a little, and his brow creases in confusion.

“Then...why...are we...here?” Jeongmin rolls his eyes and pats Hyunseong’s shoulder. “Because I wanted to see you, obviously. I got tired of just having those textbook notes, it was like some cheesy romantic comedy or something. So I made up an excuse that I figured you’d go for, because I knew you’d be too nice to say no.”  Most of those words make sense, but Hyunseong finds himself stuck on 'romantic comedy.' His heart flutters, not for the first time this afternoon, and he has to look away. When he looks back, Jeongmin is still smiling at him. This time, Hyunseong smiles back, and tentatively moves his hand toward where Jeongmin's is resting on the table. No effort is made to stop or prevent him, and so he gently lays his hand on top of Jeongmin's.

 

They don't even try to do any more chemistry for the rest of the afternoon.


End file.
